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Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Food Defenders Protest Corporate Takeover of 'Organic' Standards

Alexis
Baden-Mayer of the Organic Consumers Association protesting the
corruption of organic safeguards at the National Organic Standards Board
meeting in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo: @JennyHops reporting for
Politico Pro)

Protester arrested as groups fight for a natural food system people can 'trust'

Champions of organic food brought the National Organic Standards
Board (NOSB) meeting to a halt on Tuesday as they raised their voices
against what they see as the takeover of the organic standards by the
corporate food industry.

The NOSB—an advisory board to the USDA
and designed to represent farmers, consumers and other advocates of
organic food—is charged with overseeing organic standards and presenting
recommendations to the federal government. In recent years, however,
critics charge the quality and intergrity of the national organic
standards set by the NOSB have been eroded by the influence of a large
agricultural interests and powerful corporations in the food industry.

In order to delay the opening of a four-day meeting in San Antonio,
Texas, demonstrators stood at the front of the conference room
displaying a banner which read: "Safeguard Organic Standards."

Tuesday's protest, organized by the Organic Consumers Association
(OCA), was held to draw attention to what the group is calling the
"last straw" in the corporate-backed erosion of organic standards: a
recent change to what is known as the "sunset process," which determines
the synthetic ingredients that are permitted in organic foods.

As explained
by Mark A. Kastel, co-director of The Cornucopia Institute,
"agribusiness" and corporate food companies "had their minions at the
U.S. Department of Agriculture" change the rules in order to push
"gimmicky synthetics and nutraceuticals in organic food."

“Don’t change sunset!" the group chanted until police arrived. One
protester, Alexis Baden-Mayer, the political director for OCA, refused
to disperse and was eventually placed under arrest and carried out.

Citing a recent Consumer Reports survey
which found that 7 out of 10 Americans want as few non-organic
ingredients approved for organic food as possible, Katherine Paul, OCA
communications director, told Common Dreams that "people don't want this stuff in their food."

However, she added, "People don't have time to follow the wonky
policy decisions, so it's easy for standards to be eroded without them
knowing about it."

The so-called 'sunset process' required that non-organic food
materials approved by the NOSB for use in organic foods—such as sausage
casings from factory-farmed animals, synthetic vitamins, and the
antibiotic streptomycin—must be reviewed every five years. Unless
re-approved by a two-third majority vote, the items would be dropped
from the list.

As Paul explains, the process was designed to ensure that
these non-organic materials would only be temporarily allowed in organic
foods until a better, organic option was found.

Under the new rules, non-organic ingredients are no longer dropped
after five years and, instead, a majority vote is required to remove
them from the list. The rule change "almost guarantees that the list of
non-organic materials will just get longer and longer and it will be
impossible to get them out," Paul said.

The change to the sunset process, the groups say, is the "last straw" in the food industry's corruption of these safeguards.

"As consumer interest in organic grows, sales grow. These larger
companies want a piece of that pie but dont want to play by the rules,"
Paul said, adding that food industry representatives "get themselves
appointed to these boards and manage to, over time, corrupt these
standards."

"Little by little these standards are being eroded, for the benefit
for larger and larger organic and so-called 'natural' companies," Paul
continued.

"Corporate interests, including the industry lobby group the Organic Trade Association, have been gaming the system for years with the help of the USDA,” said Cornucopia's Kastel.

Later this week OCA is expected to announce the formation of a new
trade association called the Organic and Natural Health Association.

"Our intent is to have a really legitimate trade association with
very strict criteria so that companies that belong to this new
association will be true organic companies that will be really committed
to preserving these organic standards," OCA stated.

"Organic has to be a system people trust," added Cynthia Kurkowski, an organizer representing March Against Monsanto-San Antonio.

Further updates on the protest and NOSB meeting can be found on Twitter.

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